If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

The Muscle and Brawn Forum is dedicated to no nonsense muscle and strength building. If you need advice that works, you have come to the right place. This forum focuses on building strength and muscle using the basics. You will also find that the Muscle and Brawn community stresses encouragement and respect. Trolls and name calling are not allowed here. No matter what your personal goals are, you will be given effective advice that produces results.

Please consider registering. It takes 30 seconds, and will allow you to get the most out of the forum.

I'd rather be that fatty I am now, but be gaining nicely, rather than wishing I was making gains, and being skinny.

Lean bulk or clean bulk though. I mean...cram anything down you can, or eat a ton of calories but keep them all lean proteins, healthy fats, fiberous whole grains, solid veggies, etc... I know that bulking this way, I'll put on fat. But just cramming down the pizza, hamburgers, donuts and whatnot..... You really think one would gain muscle faster this way?

There are 3 that reveal that over-eating packs on muscle, even in untrained individuals.

Quote:

The 12 Day Study. In a 1996 study, Changes in macronutrient balance during over- and underfeeding assessed by 12-d continuous whole-body calorimetry, researchers found that a 12 day bulk resulted in a 4.38 lean muscle mass gain and a 2 pound fat mass gain. The amazing aspect of the study…participants did not perform any form of resistance training.

Quote:

The Rochester Study. The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry studied the hormonal response to mixed-diet bulking. Results revealed a significant boost in anabolic drive. Participants experienced rocketing levels of insulin, testosterone, and IGF-1, and experienced a significant increase in muscle mass. As in the “12 Day Study”, resistance training was not involved.

Quote:

The Short Term Study. In the study, Short-term, mixed-diet overfeeding in man: no evidence for “luxuskonsumption”, following a 13 day caloric maintenance period, 5 male subjects ate bulking diets for a 9 days period. During this time, subjects gained an average of 7.04 pounds. 3.1 pounds of this gain was muscle mass. (Please note that this bulk followed a maintenance period, and not a cut)

There was also a study on sumo wrestlers which revealed that they have about as much lean muscle mass as elite natural bodybuilders.

My own personal experience is in line with these studies as well. I had a layoff from lifting, and got back at it in 2007. At the time I weighed 278 and was a bucket of lard. Using a skin fold caliper, I found my base lean muscle mass to be 172 pounds. I documented my change over at BB.com, and after 100 days of training (only 60 were with weights, the first 40 were running and pushups), My LBM was 178.

I logged every day of that transformation, and took skin folds and pictures weekly. Here are before and afters:

There was some muscle memory that took place going from 172 to 178. But I had a base LBM of 172 out the gate after many years and years away from weights.

Of course, I has previously been a lifter. But the point being made is that when the body eats a lot of food, a good portion of the weight gained in muscle. Maybe that weight gain is only 33% muscle, but I do believe you can eat only crap...soda, Doritos, ice cream...and gain quite a bit of muscle.

I do believe you can eat only crap...soda, Doritos, ice cream...and gain quite a bit of muscle.

I believe that too. But if one ate soda, Doritos, ice cream, etc...or the same calories of brown rice, chicken breast, etc... What would be the ending result? Same person...same metabolism, etc... Do you think the doritos dude would have more/less muscle? Do you think the doritos dude would have more/less fat? My take is that the doritos dude would have, ultimately, similar muscle but significantly more fat.

I believe that too. But if one ate soda, Doritos, ice cream, etc...or the same calories of brown rice, chicken breast, etc... What would be the ending result? Same person...same metabolism, etc... Do you think the doritos dude would have more/less muscle? Do you think the doritos dude would have more/less fat? My take is that the doritos dude would have, ultimately, similar muscle but significantly more fat.

Im going with WAY less muscle.
The fact is that cheap snack foods have almost no protein, no protein gets you no muscle.

Now a guy who is eating double cheese burgers VS a guy who eats grilled chicken breasts will be a better example of nearly same muscle content with bodyfat being the big difference.

Diet isn't everything, but it is HUGE.
In this (bodybuilding) lifestyle only an idiot would not consider making healthy eating choices. People always over think it only to give up because they came to the conclusion its to hard, when its amazingly simple.

I live like a damn caveman: if it doesn't bleed or grow on a tree, Im not going to eat it.

__________________

-OTK's LOG-
We lift weights and manipulate our diets so that we'll look good naked. Sure, it's healthy too, and we'll probably live a longer and more productive life than the average guy, but mostly it's about the naked thing.

^ ^ that is what separates us from them.
people fail because they dont want to work.

__________________

-OTK's LOG-
We lift weights and manipulate our diets so that we'll look good naked. Sure, it's healthy too, and we'll probably live a longer and more productive life than the average guy, but mostly it's about the naked thing.

You can't tell much since the angles are different but I think just looking at my arms shows a significant difference between the almost a year change in just my arms,(that is kinda visible) when my "diet" is no better, and I don't even train arms half as much as I used to. One day I will post real progress pics, I just need to look through my old cpu for my older ones.